


all that i'll ever need is in your eyes

by MediaWhore



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (although could be seen as canon I guess), Alternate Universe, Failed Marriage Proposal, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 07:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3478940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MediaWhore/pseuds/MediaWhore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis has known he's going to marry Harry Styles since he was eighteen years old. Five years later, he has the perfect proposal planned. Too bad he can't help blurting it out while they're detained at the mall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	all that i'll ever need is in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yesterdays (ihavetoomuchfreetime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihavetoomuchfreetime/gifts).



> I didn't know malls could have jails before getting this prompt so hopefully this isn't too horrendously inaccurate.
> 
> The title is from 98 Degrees' I Do (Cherish You). A million thanks to [ Painting--Words ](http://painting--words.tumblr.com) for finding it!

“You had to do it,” Harry says, eyes fixed somewhere between the bars of the small cell.

This hasn’t been Louis’ strongest moment. Even he can admit it.

 It just seemed like such a brilliant plan. It wasn’t a busy afternoon, not really. Just a few parents, their babies and a couple of groups of teens, all of them strolling around leisurely, eying items they’d probably never buy and, on occasion, buying things they didn't actually need; a normal and peaceful afternoon.

“You had to climb the fountain’s statue,” Harry continues to mumble angrily, his back turned to Louis. “You just _had_ to do it.”

It seemed like such a perfect opportunity is the thing. There was no one around for once, no witnesses to see his slightly erratic behaviour. It was the perfect circumstances. And Louis had secretly wanted to do it ever since he was child, when his mum brought him and his sisters to play in the mall’s tiny amusement park and she made them all stop to the fountain to make wishes. They went in order, youngest first until it was Louis’ turn and he always ended up hesitating, feeling like he had made the wrong wish at the last moment and going home slightly disappointed in himself. He hadn’t dared trying to climb on top of it then, despite his wild ways, and now that he is all grown up, it was the ideal occasion. Harry wasn’t going to try and stop him and once the urge settled into him, he simply couldn’t deny himself any longer. Patience, after all, has never been one of Louis’ strongest virtues.

“Well,” Louis starts arguing even if he knows it’s best not to insist when Harry is in a strop, “to be fair, if it had worked -without the security guard’s interruption, I mean - that would have been my best selfie to date.  Even you can’t deny that love.”

Harry gives him a dark look over his shoulder and silently turns his gaze back where it was, fixing the strict looking agent that brought them both in. The cell is in a small corner of the mall’s security post and it’s barely big enough to hold three people. Louis really hopes nobody is in a shoplifting or _do something crazy_ mood because they’ll start to feel pretty squeezed in if they ever get company. He doesn’t mind being squeezed in with Harry, far from it, but he’s too possessive of a boyfriend to like the thought of someone else in their space.  It would be unsavory at best.

“Come on Haz, it would have been sick,” Louis says softly, cuddling up to Harry’s shoulder, whispering teasingly in his ear. It usually works pretty well to calm him down. Not that Harry angers easily but still, it’s always been Louis’ secret weapon whenever his boyfriend needs to be soothed. A few cute nicknames and a cuddle usually do the trick. 

Harry, unfortunately, isn’t in a very agreeable mood.

“Oh yeah, sure. Really sick. Almost breaking your neck and drowning in a mall fountain for a selfie is _really_ sick Louis. Sure. Of course. I forgot for a second. So is getting arrested. Obviously.”

“We’re not getting arrested, don’t be stupid. We didn’t do anything illegal. Technically,” Louis says, still smiling.

Nothing is going to happen. Not really. Louis has had enough experience with mischief in his twenty-three years of age to know that the security guard is probably keeping them locked in to scare them a bit, give them a couple of uncomfortable hours so that they’re really dissuaded to ever stir shit up at the local mall again and then he’ll send them off on their merry way. He might even take their pictures and ban them for life for bad behaviour. But that’s the worst-case scenario and Louis highly doubts it will come to this. He has been through this process many times in various shops, cinemas, restaurants and even one memorable occasion at the Zoo. He’s never done any real damage anywhere so no one has ever called the actual police on him and he knows this time is the same. Harry though -sweet lovely Harry - as mischievous as he likes to think himself, doesn’t have that same brand of life experience. He’s younger and more innocent, unknowing in the _getting yourself expulsed from somewhere_ department. Because this is what it is. It’s the longer version, but essentially this is what’s happening.

 “And that excuses everything?” Harry squeaks while gesticulating grandly.

Louis is pretty sure he can see a hint of a smile on the guard’s face. He had previously been completely impervious to Louis’ jokes and attempts to get off the hook, and has been nothing but serious ever since he’s brought them back to the security post. This almost smile is the biggest trace of humanity that’s been found on unnamed security guard yet. Louis can’t really blame him though; Harry is really fucking cute when he gets like this, all pouted lips and frowning face. He looks like a disgruntled toddler and only the experience of almost five years together stops Louis from cooing at him and pinching his cheeks. He’d like to keep his hands, thank you.

“Well – “ Louis starts before being interrupted by a loud sigh.

This is not a good start.

“Don’t. Even,” Harry says closing his eyes in despair.

Louis can’t actually see his face, another indication that Harry is actually pissed off, but there’s no way that’s not what he’s doing.

“Oh come on Haz, don’t be like that!” Louis keeps on teasing.

He might be pushing his luck a little, but he has a hard time believing Harry is actually mad at him for this. In a couple of years, this will be one of their best anecdotes! Louis can already feel it. Once they’re old and boring with three kids and a dog, they’ll be able to say _we sure were wild once too!_ Louis really can’t see anything wrong with that.

“Excuse me?” Harry asks loudly as he turns around.

 _Oooooops,_ Louis thinks.

“I’ll bloody be however I want,” Harry says, folding his arms across his chest.

“Well okay, fair enough love –”

 “Oh no. No. Don’t you go all _love_ at me,” Harry interrupts before turning his back to Louis again with a loud offended exhale.

“Fair enough _Harry_ ,” Louis says pointedly in a mocking voice. “But, I still think you’re exaggerating,” Louis continues matter-of-factly. “Just a little bit, though,” he adds quickly. “As I said before we’ll be out of here in a couple of hours. We’ll even laugh about in the future. You know we will.”

“We’re not in the future yet and I’m allowed to be upset when my boyfriend is being an irresponsible idiot and risking his life,” Harry argues in a low voice.

His boyfriend was just worried. Louis knows this. But Louis also knows there was nothing to _actually_ worry about so he can’t help but push him a bit. He probably shouldn’t do it, but he really can’t help himself. Harry is so fun to tease. It’s his favourite thing to do. Better than football and videogames, second only to the filthy athletic sex they have together.

“I was _not_ risking my life Harold you know this,” Louis chuckles.

He really wasn’t. The statue wasn’t even that high and the water wasn’t that deep so really there was absolutely no part of the event that even remotely involved Louis risking his life. Harry is being dramatic again. Louis doesn’t let him get away with this usually and today is not going to be any different.

“You were being irresponsible,” Harry repeats stubbornly.

 _At least he’s dropped the idiot part_ , Louis thinks with a hint of smugness.

“Well I am irresponsible, this isn’t news,” Louis laughs because he kind of is. He knows when to be serious of course, but he can’t help but think that there’s always going to be this wild impulsive side to him… It’s in his genes. He’s always been this way. His poor suffering mother has countless anecdotes that involve tiny versions of him getting into all kinds of trouble. She should be made a saint for having him first and still wanting more children after that crazy ride, Louis still thinks to this day. There’s just no amount of years added to his mileage that could ever change that.

“I love you as you are Louis but sometimes I wish you’d try a bit harder to act like an adult. I’m not saying you should be serious all the time but couldn’t you at least make an effort to not land us in fucking jail??” Harry snaps, angrily shoving against the cell’s bars. “Ow,” he mumbles pitifully when the movement does nothing but hurt his right shoulder.

“Well, that’s not gonna happen and you’re just gonna have to get used to it when we’re married Styles!” Louis says teasingly while rubbing his palm softly against Harry’s hurt shoulder.

“What?” Harry says automatically, turning back to face Louis, eyes wide with shock.

Even the security guard stops ruffling through the papers on his desk to stare at them, mouth opened.

“What?”  Louis repeats with a high voice.

There’s a litany of _ABORT ABORT ABORT ABORT_ going through his mind. He wasn’t meant to say that. He really, really wasn’t meant to say that out loud.

“You said when we’re married!?” Harry says, accusingly pointing a finger to Louis’ chest. 

The thing is Louis knows he’s going to marry Harry. He’s pretty sure Harry knows they’re gonna get married eventually too. It just makes sense. They’ve been together for a long time now. They haven’t talked about actual marriage a lot, but they’ve talked plenty. They’ve talked about how many babies they want and which neighbourhood they want to buy their future house in, what breed of dogs they’re going to raise and other various tiny details about their future life. They’ve gone as far as debating the primary schools near their future house and Louis once found a list of them with their national ranks pressed between the pages of one of Harry’s books. It’s not exactly a surprise that Louis is thinking in terms of when they’ll be married. He’s always thought that Harry thought of them in those terms too.

What is actually a surprise, or is meant to be, is the fact that Louis has been planning the greatest proposal ever for the past four months now. He’s quite proud actually. It includes dinner at Harry’s favourite restaurant, tickets to a musical he’s been dying to see and even a musician to set the mood for when he’s going to make his grand demand after the show. Louis was thinking while taking a stroll in Hyde Park, but nothing is set in stones yet. Trust him to ruin the whole thing only a week before it’s meant to take place.

“What?” Louis repeats feigning confusion, frantically trying to buy some time.

“You said when you guys are gonna be married!” The security guard chimes in unhelpfully.

Louis glares at him for a second before reminding himself that further angering the man might not be the smartest of plans. He does want to get out eventually, no matter how calm and collected he’s tried to appear for the sake of his boyfriend.

“Well… I… ummm…It’s,” he babbles for a bit, gaze locked on Harry’s.

He blames what he says next on the fact that Harry’s eyes are the most beautiful things he’s ever seen and that he's also a little bit very deeply in love with him.

“Marry me?” he blurts with a shy smile, a raised eyebrow, and a hopeful voice.

 _This is fine,_ Louis thinks, filled with what he thinks is mostly panic. Both spontaneous and romantic, it’s perfect. He feels a bit nauseous, hardly believing he actually said it, actually asked, but he feels confident too. It’s Harry and him. It’s never not going to be okay.

Harry doesn’t say anything for a bit, though. He just stands there and stares at Louis silently for a second before shaking himself and saying a loud, panicky “No!”

The security guard gasps loudly somewhere behind them and Louis has never been punched in the face in his whole life but he thinks this might be what it feels like. Somehow, in all the days and weeks he’s spent planning this thing with Zayn and Harry’s sister, he never, not even once, considered the option that Harry might say no. It’s him and Harry. It just never occurred to him is the thing and he feels silly for it now. He feels silly and humiliated because Harry _is_ saying no, quite loudly, over and over again while shaking his head. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” he repeats firmly with wide eyes.

 “Okay!” Louis interrupts quickly, hurt and offended. He thinks he might start crying. “I get it, seven nos is a pretty clear message Harold, you can stop now.”

“No,” Harry says one last time and it feels like a knife twisting slowly and painfully in his gut.

Harry pauses, takes his time looking at Louis’ face and there’s that laser focus creepy stare that their mutual friends have labeled his serial killer look. Louis has always found it extremely romantic, claiming loudly to every single person they know that the serial killer stare is a proof of their true everlasting love. There’s nothing romantic in it now and Louis would rather be anywhere than where he is so he drops his eyes to his feet and awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. Hopefully they can drop it and never speak of this again. He doesn’t care what he has to do to bribe Harry and the security guard so that they never ever refer to this event ever again. He’ll do it. He’ll do anything for this to stop.  

“I can’t believe you!” Harry finally exclaims loudly with a hysterical laugh.

“You can’t believe _me?”_ Louis replies. “You just rejected me and laughed? And you can’t believe _me?”_ he continues angrily because he can take a refusal to his proposal like a man – it might not be the time for Harry and he can respect that – but there’s no way he’s going to be laughed at.

“I didn’t reject you!” Harry says heatedly. “Obviously, I’m not going to say _no_ ,” he adds rolling his eyes dramatically like Louis is an actual idiot. Louis feels slightly cheated by the whole thing. “I can’t believe you!” he says again. “You were going to take me out to see Phantom of the Opera!”

Louis gasps. “What the fuck?” Harry isn’t meant to know that.

“I can’t believe my fiancé is SUCH A TODDLER that he would ruin a perfectly lovely proposal,” Harry continues rambling, ignoring Louis’ incredulous face. 

“What?” Louis repeats, unable to say anything else at the moment but also hoping it’s going be enough to get Harry’s attention. Louis needs an explanation yesterday because none of this is making any sense.

He seems to have no luck though because Harry just keeps going on and on and on.

“I mean, you only had one week to wait left. One week! But no! No! You _had_ to climb the mall’s fountain and now our proposal story involves a jail!”

“It’s not an actual jail,” Louis says automatically. He feels a bit faint.

“A jail Louis!” Harry wails, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him a bit. “A bloody jail! We’ll be sixty and have to tell people you proposed in a fucking jail!”

“It’ll be a fun story?” Louis offers awkwardly before shaking his head. “Hang on, how do you know about the Phantom?” He stops a second. “Who told you?” he asks insistently. “Was it Gemma? I knew she couldn’t keep her bloody mouth shut,” he adds to himself, mentally already preparing the angry speech he’ll perform for her when he gets to speak to her. He can’t believe she would spoil it like that. To think he trusted her.

Harry doesn’t say anything straight away, they stay in silence, eying each other up awkwardly. Louis’ gaze suspicious and irritated while Harry gives Louis a very unimpressed look. 

“Nobody told me anything Lou, you do know our bathroom isn’t actually soundproof?! Maybe keep that in mind the next time you plan a surprise with Zayn on the phone.”

Louis opens his mouth to argue but there’s nothing to say. He did plan half of his proposal in their bathroom. That’s definitely something he did. He should have known Harry Commitment Obsessed Styles would be noticing things.

“I hope you can at least get a refund on that violinist you hired. I saw the bill in your underwear drawer and that is just a crazy amount if you aren’t even going to propose properly.”

Louis gasps. “You went through my underwear drawer?!!! Can’t a man have ANY dignity left? Any privacy?” 

Harry snorts. “Maybe if you did the laundry once in a blue moon I wouldn’t find all your secret stash,” he offers mockingly.

“I can’t believe you!! You’re being purposefully DIFFICULT!” Louis argues. 

He worked really hard on all of this. Really really hard.

“You can’t believe me?? I can’t believe _YOU!”_ Harry replies with a pout. “You don’t even have my ring,” he adds with a frustrated mumble. “It’s so pretty, I was really looking forward to it.” 

“YOU SAW THE RING?” Louis yells and Harry’s eyes widen.

They stare at each other in silence for a second.

“Oooops?” Harry shyly says with a small shrug. “I wasn’t looking for it,” he adds quickly. “Well, I was a little bit, but I was so excited, I just couldn’t wait!” he babbles, cheeks reddening as he keeps talking. “I love it, though. It’s great.”

 Louis sighs loudly with a defeated pout. “Is there any part of that proposal you didn’t already know about?” 

Harry bites on his index’s knuckle, eyebrow furrowed in concentration. “Was there something else apart dinner, the show and the violinist?” he asks hesitantly.

Louis shakes his head slowly. To think he was so proud. 

“Oh,” Harry replies. “Well, no then.” 

“Great,” Louis says curtly. He knows he’s not behaving really maturely but he was pleased with himself. And now it was all for nothing.

“I didn’t know you were going to blurt it out in a mall jail a week beforehand? Harry says with a hopeful face.

Louis sighs and rolls his eyes. “It’s not a -”

“Real jail,” Harry finishes for him with a small smile. “Still didn’t know about it.”

“Yeah and you said no so,” Louis grumbles a bit.

“I did not!” Harry says with an offended gasp. “Please, I’ve been wanting to marry you since I was sixteen…” 

Harry did say no. He said no multiple times. It was quite hurtful and if he thinks he’s going to get away with it without Louis milking it and getting something for all the emotional turmoil it put him through than Harry is well confused. And naïve.

“You said no seven times Harry Styles don’t try to get out of this. It hurt my feelings, I’m expecting breakfast in bed for at least a month.” 

“I make you breakfast every day,” Harry says, reaching for Louis’ waist, fingers digging into the small of his back.

“In bed,” Louis repeats. “Breakfast in bed. Everyday. I told you, you’re not getting out of it Styles.”

“Tomlinson,” Harry says with a huge grin.

Louis swears his heart stops beating at the implication. It actually stops beating for a bit. It’s not that Louis has been doodling Harry Tomlinson in his notebooks since he was eighteen years old but yes. It’s exactly that. When his rebellious heart finally does start up again it goes about 200 beats per minute, racing like mental because that’s what Harry Styles does to Louis. Unfortunately. He hums absently, trying to hide how overexcited he is, to appear much smoother. He’s not fooling anyone, but he still tries.

“I think it sounds better, right?” Harry continues, knowing fully well what his babbling is currently doing to Louis. “Harry Tomlinson. It just has a nicer ring to it.”

Louis nods enthusiastically. “Yeah,” he replies with a raspy voice. He clears his throat loudly. “I mean, yeah.”

“I’m sorry I said no,” Harry whispers against Louis face, pressing a kiss to his temple. “I didn’t mean no-no. Obviously.”

“Yeah,” Louis exhales. “Obviously.” 

“I love you,” Harry says before kissing Louis deeply, pushing him against the only side of the cell that has an actual wall.

Louis moans loudly, grasping Harry’s hair, pushing himself on his tiptoes to reach him properly.

“I …” Louis gasps in between kisses. “I’m … sorry.”

“What for?” Harry says hoarsely, one of his hands stroking at Louis’ belly under his tee shirt.

“For proposing in a mall jail,” Louis admits shyly, every nerve in his body on fire from Harry’s touches and the knowledge that they’re going to be together forever.

“It’s not an actual jail, remember?” Harry teases, biting Louis’ neck playfully.

“You’ve changed your tune,” Louis teases, still a bit breathless.

Harry giggles and kisses Louis again. And again.

“I guess an engagement does that to a person…” he finally whispers into Louis’ ears after a few more kisses.

“Wow… I should propose to you more often if it gets you to stop nagging me about stuff.” 

“It only works once Lewis.”

Harry tries to kiss him to shut him up, but Louis is determined to get to the bottom of this.

“Are you sure though?” he interrupts, angling his head away from Harry who only frowns in response.

“Yes,” he declares firmly.

“I don’t think so,” Louis teases. “I think you love me and I think marriage gets you hot and bothered…”

 Harry opens his mouth to protest but Louis is faster.

“In fact, I think if I asked you again right now, you’d get all excited and forget what we’re arguing about.”

 Harry pouts in response. Louis would feel bad for thinking he looks beautiful when he does so, but Harry looks like a renaissance painting about ninety-eight percent of the time, including, unsurprisingly, when he pouts. So yeah, Louis gets distracted by his gorgeous fiancé, sue him. 

“I would not,” Harry says loudly, leaning down and biting Louis on the cheek.

“Harry, you’re the love of my life and I never ever ever want to spend a day on this planet without you, will you marry me, darling?” Louis says with as much sincerity as he can muster. A bit more kitsch than what he was originally planning on saying, but every word is true.

Harry kindly just swats at him a couple of times and tells him to shut the hell up. 

“You’re gonna have to stop doing that or else I’ll think you actually don’t want to marry me you know,” Louis replies, staring at his nails in what he hopes looks like hurt and despair.

“Right…” Harry says doubtfully.

 _Oh well,_ Louis thinks. _It was worth a try._

“Is it because I don’t have a ring?” Louis continues stubbornly. Harry did complain about the lack of ring, that’s probably why he’s being so difficult.

“Can’t we just make out to celebrate? I don’t want to think about my beautiful ring that is still at home,” Harry says, giving his empty left hand a sad look. 

“You want a ring Harry Styles? I’ll give you a ring,” Louis declares. He grabs Harry’s face to snog him thoroughly.

“That’s… That’s not a ring,” Harry says in a daze as Louis gets on his knees. “Hum, Louis… You do know you’re supposed to kneel when you make the demand, not afterwards? You know what right?”

“Oh,” Louis says, stopping just as he finally manages to untie his shoe. “Right. That’s true. Harold Edward Styles – “ Louis starts again as Harry laughs and hides his face in his hands. “Oi! Look at me when I’m proposing to you for the third time, honestly so rude.”

Harry kicks at him a bit in reply, but he does take his hands off his face and chooses to tangle his fingers together instead.

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the lack of eye contact… Harold Edward Styles, love of my life, fire of my loins, I’m actually kneeling here and this floor is pretty fucking gross, so will you marry me? I even got you a ring! Pretty sure I got all the steps right this time,” Louis finishes as he waves his homemade ring around.

“That’s a dirty shoelace,” Harry deadpans. 

Louis shakes his head and sighs loudly, forcefully grabbing Harry’s left hand and starting to try and tie his shoelace in what ends up resembling a disgraceful mess. Harry’s eyes are still wet when he looks at it and his dimples are fully out so Louis doesn’t worry about it too much.

Still.

“One day I’ll get you to say yes straight after I’ve asked you know. I don’t care how many times I have to propose, I’ll get my yes.”

He never does but in the end, it doesn’t really matter.


End file.
